Next To Me
by EmmyGoldsworthy13
Summary: '"When we were in Morty earlier... why were you blushing?" "I… I was deciding whether or not to kiss you." He murmured, almost flinching when he said the words, and clenching both eyes shut.' One-shot.


**_Disclaimer:_ Sadly, I don't own Degrassi or _Next To Me _by_ Civil Twilight. _**

_Enjoy the story!_

It was Friday. I shoved my books and notebooks into my locker without really caring, and closed my locker. I was walking down the front steps of Degrassi, quietly singing my favorite song, when I felt a pair of eyes on me. I look around, and I see my English partner, Eli Goldsworthy, looking at me. When he sees me looking back, he smirks and raises his eyebrows. My heart fluttered.

I had liked Eli ever since we skipped school together a few weeks ago, and I got butterflies in my stomach every time I caught him staring at me. I was going to continue daydreaming about Eli, but I was interrupted when I saw Eli walking towards me. There are those butterflies again…

"Hey, Clare." He said, smirking and snapping his fingers in front of my face to get my attention.

"H-hi, Eli." I stuttered. I looked up into his gorgeous green eyes, and I almost melted when he was looking deep into my own. He had baggage, I could tell. He had this sadness in his eyes sometimes, and it almost broke my heart to see him upset. But right now, they were happy, and it made my heart skip a few beats. I blushed, and he smirked. What he said next caught me off guard.

"Do you want to go somewhere with me?" He said, confident as ever. I froze, I didn't really know what to say, he always made me so nervous.

"S-sure." I stuttered again. Oh my gosh, what was this boy doing to me? He smiled; I mean _really_ smiled. He doesn't smile a lot. He grabbed my hand and started walking towards his hearse, Morty. I felt something close to an electric shock when I felt his hand on mine, and it felt right for my hand to be there in his. _Our hands fit together perfectly, _I thought to myself, and blushed. He took a glance at me, and saw me looking at our hands. He smirked and let go, and I was slightly disappointed. We shared a comfortable silence, and it felt nice, just being here with him. After a few tries, Morty starts up., and he began driving. Suddenly, he broke the silence.

"You know, you're a pretty decent singer." He said, chuckling. My eyes widened and I blushed.

"You heard that?" I asked quietly, slightly embarrassed. He nodded, making his black hair bounce slightly.

"Every word, Clare-Bear." He smirked at me. He knows I hate that nickname. He's become really good at getting under my skin, and I wanted to slap that smirk off of his face. I glared at him, but it didn't last long, because my glare crumbled when he started laughing.

"Shut up, Dr. Doom." I said, with a triumphant smile.

"Ouch! That hurt me, Edwards." He said, while putting his right hand to his chest and feigning hurt. He was so sarcastic and witty, and that was one of the things that I loved about him. I laughed, and he continued driving with a small smile on his face. He plugged his iPod into the car stereo and his music came blasting through the speakers, making me jump. I snuck a glance at him, and he was desperately trying to turn the music down. He looked so cute, and I giggled. He turned to me after he had turned the music down to a decent volume and parked the car, and asked "What's so funny, Edwards?"

I smiled. "Nothing, you're just cute." I said, and then immediately regretted it. I risked a glance at him, and he looked smug. I was waiting for the witty remark, but it never came. "Not as cute as you." He said. I bit my lip, blushed yet again, and looked down at my hands. He chuckled and said, "Especially when you blush." I blushed harder, and he chuckled again. "It's so easy to make you blush, Clare." I looked up at him shyly, and he was smiling from ear to ear.

Right then, I wanted to kiss him. I came to the conclusion that I wouldn't. He opened up to me about his past earlier this week, and I learned that his ex-girlfriend, Julia, had died. He loved her, and still did. Him and Julia had been fighting, and Eli said things that he didn't mean. She ran out crying, and rode her bike into the night, and got hit by a car. Eli blames himself every single day for it. I feel bad that I still haven't told him about my parents, my sister… anything.

I couldn't kiss him knowing that if I did, it might hurt him. But the way his deep green eyes sparkled when he smiled, made my heart flutter. I then realized that I had some serious feelings for him. We were just friends, just English partners…But I wish it were more. I wanted more than anything for him to be mine, and me to be his. I looked at him once more, and he was looking at me right in the eye. When he noticed me looking, he looked down at his hands and his face grew red. _Wait, did he just blush? _He looked back up at me, and he started to inch closer to me, but I thought nothing of it.

"You just blushed!" I said, in awe. He backed up and shook his head.

"I did not." He murmured. I can't believe my eyes.

"…You were blushing." I said, and then giggled. He blushed harder and said "Was not…" I rolled my eyes and said playfully "Don't deny it, Eli. You blushed… and your still blushing. Why?"

"…No reason." He said, looking down. "Eli, seriously, why were you blushing?" I asked again. He looked up, and his eyes had something in them that I'd never seen before, and I couldn't point out exactly what it was.

My thoughts were interrupted when he got up out of Morty and ran over to my side to get my door. He opened it and raised his eyebrows at me, silently telling me to step out. I got out, but my foot got caught on the side of the door. Eli let go of the door and caught me in his arms before I could fall. I shyly looked up into his emerald eyes, and he was looking back. He was so close, and it felt… right.

"Can't resist being in my arms, Blue Eyes?" I got butterflies in my stomach, and I wanted nothing more than to say '_more than you know.'_

I hit his arm playfully. "You wish, Goldsworthy." I said with a huge grin. He chuckled and helped me stand up straight. "C'mon." He said, looking at me hopeful when he reached his hand out to grab mine. I giggled and bit my lip, and then reached out to grab his hand. He pulled me along until we reached the tire swing. He helped my onto one side of it, and then he walked around and got on the side in front of me.

He started spinning us, and I couldn't help but giggle. He looked up at me and into my happy eyes, and soon started laughing as well. His laugh was like music to my ears, and every single time I heard it, I felt this strange, unknown feeling in my stomach. I had no idea what it was. I leaned back on the swing, and let my hair flow in the swirling air around me. For the first time in a while, I actually felt free. I turned to head to see that Eli was leaning back in the swing with his eyes closed. He looked so cute, and it made me smile. Right now, the walls he usually put up in front of everyone else, were down. He was being himself, and it made my heart flutter to know that he thought he could be himself in front of me. My thoughts were interrupted when a small smile crept onto his face, he opened one eye, and chuckled.

"You know, I can't enjoy this when I can feel your eyes burning holes in my face." Eli said, smirking and putting his left foot on the ground to stop the swing completely. I felt my mouth curl up at the edges into a smile, and bit my lip and tried to fight back a blush. I failed miserably.

"Why do you blush?" Eli asked with a serious face, cocking his head to the side a little bit.

"I don't know." I murmured, blushing harder and looking at the lines on the tire swing. "I just… do it. I can never control it." I looked up at him, and he appeared to be studying my face. He brought his hand up and gently stroked my cheek with his hand. I felt my face burn hotter, and he laughed. He took his hand away, and I immediately missed it.

"I'm not gonna' lie. It's pretty adorable." He said, smirking and looking down at his hands. However, I was surprised. _Eli Goldsworthy, the boy who drove a hearse, listens to hard rock music, and wears all black all of the time, thought that my blushing was 'adorable'? _

"Umm… thanks." I said quietly. But there was one question still floating around in my head. "Eli, why were you blushing earlier when we were in Morty?" I asked, honestly curious. Eli sighed.

"If I tell you… you might hit me." Eli said, with his hands up in mock-surrender.

_Oh God._ I thought. _Is it bad? Is it sexual? What if it's something I don't want to hear?_

"Please, Eli. Just tell me. It can't be that bad." I said, reassuring myself more than him. "And I won't hit you, I promise." I said jokingly, giving him a reassuring smile. Eli took a deep breath, and blew it out.

"Do you really want to know?" He said while raising an eyebrow, with a hesitant look on his face. I nodded. He took another deep breath. "I… I was deciding whether or not to kiss you." He murmured, almost flinching when he said the words, and clenching both eyes shut.

I just stared, and my eyes were wide and my mouth was open. Did I just hear him correctly? He carefully peeked through one eye to see my reaction. He gradually opened his other eye, and quickly said, "I'm s-sorry, I just thought… never mind. I'll drive you home." He said, getting up.

"No!" I yelled, standing up. He stopped right in his tracks and turned around. I took a deep breath. "What would you say, if I said that… I was thinking the same thing?" I said softly, looking into his green eyes. Eli smirked, and his eyes lightened a little bit. He took a few steps closer.

"I would say… that I would've kissed you." He said softly. He put his hand on my cheek, and he kept looking from my eyes to my lips. We both leaned in until our lips finally touched. The sparks I felt were indescribable. I felt Eli's tongue poke at my lips, which made me gasp. He took that opportunity to slip his tongue into my mouth, playing with mine. He pulled away, but only enough that our foreheads were still touching. I felt a smile creep onto my face, and it was from ear to ear. His face mirrored mine, and he looked deeply into my eyes. "You have pretty eyes." He said softly, caressing my cheek with his hand. I blushed and bit my lower lip. I then noticed that it was starting to get dark. Eli must have noticed, as well.

"Well, as much as I don't want to, I should get you home." Eli said, giving me a peck on the lips and taking my hand. My hand heated up from his touch.

"Okay…" I murmured sadly. Eli chuckled. He walked with me until we got to Morty, and then he let go of my hand to open my door for me.

"Wow. I thought chivalry was dead." I said, giggling. Eli laughed at my statement.

"Yeah, well, I'm trying to bring it back." He said, giving me a peck on my forehead and shutting the car door. He walked around to the driver's side and slipped in. He started up the hearse, and we drove away from the park. He turned his iPod on again, and he took my hand and caressed it with his thumb. I loved this feeling, and I loved that it was him. A song came on that I knew, and I started to mouth the words.

"You know this song?" Eli asked, surprised. I nodded and continued to mouth the words.

_You are my only escapeYou are the reason that I waitOn the corner of this empty streetOh I just can't wait to meetThere's so much a man can doAnd there's so much a man can saySee I have done so many things wrongThat you should've thrown me awayI've got this second chanceI'm gonna take itI've got this song and danceI'm gonna take itI've got all that I needAnd I can taste itI've got you next to meAnd I don't want to waste itYou are my only embraceYou are the light that lights my faceAnd any fool would do the sameTo follow in your traceSee people come and people goAnd I know I should've been replaced._

"I love that song." Eli stated, looking at me while we were at a red light.

"Me too." I said, smiling. The light turned green, and he continued to drive towards my house. A few minutes later, we pulled into my driveway, and Eli stopped the car. I scooted closer to him in the bench, and I squeezed his hand. Then, I asked a question I've been waiting to ask. "So… what are we, exactly?" I said, looking up at him.

"What, you mean like… are we dating?" He said, looking down at me. I nodded.

"_Are_ we dating?" I asked him, with a small blush warming my face.

"Do you want to be?" He asked, with a twinkle in his eye.

"If you're ready." I said, with a reassuring smile. He leaned down and kissed me, and pulled away.

"I am, though." He whispered, smiling at me. I craned my neck up and kissed him on the lips, and before I could pull away, Eli slipped his tongue into my mouth. Our tongues wrestled for a few seconds, and then I pulled away, needing air. In every aspect, he truly took my breath away.

"Well, I better get inside, before my parents see a hearse parked in my driveway and start to freak out." I said with a giggle. He chuckled.

"Okay. I'll walk you to the door." Eli said, opening his door and getting out. He ran around the front of his hearse and opened my door for me. I stepped out, and took his hand, and began to walk up the front walk that leads to my front door. The motion-censored lights clicked on, and Eli took both of my hands and kissed me on the forehead.

"Goodnight, _girlfriend_." Eli whispered softly, with a small smile. I leaned up on my tippy-toes and kissed him on the lips for a few seconds, and then pulled away smiling.

"Goodnight, Eli." I murmured, giving him one last peck on the lips. He smiled at me, and then went down the steps and the front walk to his parked hearse. I opened my door and stepped over the frame. I smiled even wider as I watched him get in his car, and pull out of my driveway. He looked up to see me smiling like an idiot, and smile of his own came upon his face. He waved for a few seconds, and then drove off. I closed the door softly, and leaned my back up against it.

_Man, I loved that boy. _

**End of One-Shot. **

**I've been wanting to write that story for a while, and I finally finished it. I liked it, but did you? Comments, suggestions? Put them in a review! Hopefully, i'll have some more stories up within the next few weeks. (:**


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